


the rebellion

by amybri2002



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Banishment, Blood, Fantasy AU, Hurt/Comfort, Imprisonment, Injury, M/M, Multi, Starvation, i am really not nice to janus in this one sorry not sorry, the violence is mostly glossed over but still described briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amybri2002/pseuds/amybri2002
Summary: Roman finds a mage bleeding out onto the forest floor and takes him in to heal, knowing that he may have just invited the enemy into their base.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40
Collections: TSS Fanworks Collective Discord Secret Santa





	the rebellion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LostyK](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostyK/gifts).



> hey, this is one of two gifts i wrote for lostyk as part of a secret santa on discord!!! i really hope that u enjoy this and i am not at all sorry for what i have put janus through here :)

When Roman had gone on his usual morning patrol, around the rebel camp, keeping a lookout for any enemies in the area, he hadn’t been expecting to actually find any enemies, and  _ certainly  _ not one that was half-dead, bleeding out onto the forest floor, unconscious although still breathing, if shallow. He also hadn’t expected to feel  _ sorry  _ for the enemy, feel… protective, almost. He definitely hadn’t expected to pick him up and carry him bridal style back home, placing him down near the fire and checking over his wounds. 

It would have been better if Logan were here - whilst he wasn’t formally a healer, he  _ was _ the most experienced in the camp - but he was out on a trip, along with most of the rebels. Kind of a scouting mission, that may turn into a battle if things went to plan. Either way, Roman had been left behind to protect the few families still living in the camp, and to serve as backup if needed. 

He was aware that bringing a soldier from the Kingdom into his home was probably a bad idea. Definitely a bad idea, as soon as he healed and woke up there would be trouble. This one had green swirls down one side of his face, the markings of a mage, and Roman  _ would not  _ be able to handle himself in battle against a mage, especially not from the Kingdom. Virgil perhaps could, although he’d been awfully tired lately, and Roman couldn’t let him get hurt. But still, Roman couldn’t have just  _ left him out there _ . As much as the Kingdom had hurt him and everyone he loved, that wasn’t necessarily this mages fault, most the Kingdom’s soldiers are just blindly following orders, and… Roman couldn’t bear to see anyone hurt, no matter who they were. 

So for now, he decided he would help the soldier, bandage up his wounds, stop as much of the bleeding as possible, wait to see if he woke up. Then maybe offer him some food, some water, a place to stay for a few nights if he needed rest, before letting him be on his merry way, or recruiting him into the rebellion, or maybe even keeping him here as hostage - really depended on where is loyalties lay, whether he didn’t really care either way, hated the Kingdom, or still supported their ways. 

As Roman stitched up a few of the mages deeper wounds, trying to recall how he’d watched Logan do it on him after not-so-successful missions out of camp, his mind began to wander, trying to figure out what had even happened to him. He considered that this may have been the rebellions doing, that he may have tried to attack them and they’d fought him off, but then… the rebellion weren’t like that. They were peaceful until they were forced to attack, only ever acting out in defence. Most of the time, they tried to get the soldiers to join the rebellion instead, make them see what’s going on. They definitely wouldn’t leave someone as injured as this. 

Perhaps an animal or something had attacked him - some of the wounds almost looked like scratches, but… well, Roman wasn’t sure, there was a lot that looked like cuts from a knife or sword as well. And he couldn’t imagine why any animals in this part of the forest would attack and then  _ leave _ \- most only attacked for food. 

There was also the option that the  _ Kingdom  _ had done this to him. Roman had seen what the Kingdom had done to traitors - thankfully, he’d never been on the receiving end of that, having grown up in the rebellion anyway, never even stepping foot in the Kingdom, but plenty of people had shown up to camp all bloodied up, shaking, terrified of what would happen if the Kingdom found them again. He wondered if the mage would be like that when he woke up. 

Once Roman was satisfied that he’d done all he could do to help the mage, he lifted him up onto a bed and tucked him in, allowing him to rest for as long as he needed, then went to do things around the house, make some food in case the mage woke up, tidy a little, get changed out of his uniform and into something more comfortable. Virgil wouldn’t be back until much later, busy around another house for most of today. For now, Roman just had to keep himself busy, until he returned or the mage woke up. 

~*~ 

Janus had made a mistake. 

Well, several mistakes, actually. His whole life had been a series of little mistakes, slowly growing bigger and bigger over the years, until everyone around him finally snapped.  _ This  _ mistake was the worst. 

This mistake meant he was going to die. 

People didn’t survive banishment. They  _ say  _ it’s banishment, but it isn’t - it’s being chased out of the Kingdom, followed by whole armies, hunted for sport, slashed at and sliced to be pieces, left for dead on the forest floor. 

Janus had seen it first hand when his best friend, another mage, was kicked out of the Kingdom, never returned, never even sent so much as a letter, the connection between them a haze, unresponsive. Usually he could at least  _ sense  _ that his friend was all right, having spent so much time with him, shared so much magic, but now? He couldn’t even sense when he was scared, couldn’t even pick up the  _ strongest  _ of emotions. 

So he’d assumed the worst. He’d assumed that his friend had long since died, and felt  _ terrible  _ \- guilty that he hadn’t fought harder, hadn’t tried to help him, hadn’t escaped with him. Hadn’t protected him. 

But Janus was scared. Fucking  _ terrified  _ that the same thing would happen to him. So he’d laid low, tried not to piss off the wrong people, go along with whatever those in charge wanted, even if he didn’t personally agree with it. Just nod and smile, do whatever they say, don’t make yourself known. Stay down, stay low, stay silent. 

Until he snapped. 

The King’s plan had been stupid. Janus couldn’t have been the only one to think that.  _ So many  _ innocent people would die, just to hold off a few rebels, rebels who were  _ peaceful  _ anyway. The rebels only ever attacked when the Kingdom did first, but apparently Janus had been the only one to notice that. And now the King wanted to destroy a town filled with his own civilians, just because of the  _ slight  _ chance there’d be rebels there. 

And of course Janus had spoken up. And then dragged to the dungeons, locked away for who knows how long, starving to death. The King had come to talk to him, just talk. And Janus had snapped. He couldn’t remember what the King had said, but it had angered him, and next thing he knew he’d  _ attacked  _ the King, used a spell to throw him against the wall with a loud crack. 

And then there he was, running for his life through the forest, arrows flying at him from behind, then pinned to the ground, sword tearing into his skin, tears falling down his face as he struggled, no chance of escape, no chance of survival. Left for dead. 

In all honesty, he would’ve preferred to just starve to death in that cell. 

He fell unconscious, reality slipping from his grasp, his final chapter coming to an end. 

When he woke up, he was half-convinced he was dreaming, or in Heaven, or Hell more likely, but… everything around him felt too real. He was wrapped in a soft, warm fabric, entire body aching, head pounding, heart pounding. 

Still terrified. 

He bolted up, resulting in a pair of hands pushing him back down. He let out a scream, resulting in those same hands clasping over his mouth. He squirmed, resulting in his body spiking in pain, and a hushed, reassuring voice above him. 

“Shh, shh,” the voice said, “I’m not going to hurt you.” 

Janus didn’t believe the voice for a  _ moment _ . Instead, he bit the hand, to which the voice screamed and the hands withdrew. He pushed himself up onto a sitting position, ignoring the aches and the stings and the  _ pain _ . He collapsed again not a second later. 

“Please, just rest,” the voice continued, sounding calm, even though Janus had just attacked him. “My name’s Roman. I only want to help you.” 

Roman. Janus didn’t know any Romans. It wasn’t exactly a common name in the Kingdom - was this a rebel? Possibly… 

That wasn’t exactly a good thing. Janus was very clearly from the Kingdom, he was still in his mage uniform, Roman  _ knew _ . So why was he here? To be held for information? To be torn apart again? Roman must have just been trying to build up a false sense of security, so that Janus trusted them enough to give the rebellion information and then strike him down whe he’s not looking. 

“You were hurt pretty bad,” Roman continued, after Janus’ silence. “I- I don’t really know what happened, but I couldn’t just leave you out there. You’re safe here.” 

_ Safe _ . As if. Janus had never felt safe in his life. 

“I made you some soup, if you’re hungry. There’s some bread as well that my friend made a few days ago, before he went off on a mission, although that isn’t super fresh, but still edible I think-“ 

“It’s fine.” 

Roman raised an eyebrow. “So he does speak! How do you feel about bread and soup?” 

Janus stayed silent again for a moment, looking away. He still didn’t trust this- this  _ rebel _ , no matter how many times he told him that he was only trying to help. There could very easily be poison in the soup, or, again, could be to build up a false sense of security, or maybe he was just  _ tricking  _ him, getting his hopes up, or… 

Janus’ stomach growled. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he ate, and with his injuries as well… he could feel himself slowly wasting away. Not to mention the fact that he was freezing cold - soup sounded very nice in that moment. 

“If it’s… not too much of a hassle,” Janus eventually said, glancing back at Roman. “Soup would be nice.” 

“It’s not a hassle at all,” Roman said, before moving away from Janus and into the kitchen. 

After Roman was out of sight, Janus allowed himself to look around the room he was being held hostage in. It… didn’t look like a prison cell, at least. A welcome change from his previous establishment (even his private tower felt like a prison cell sometimes). It looked homely, a log cabin, small fire burning on one wall, a kitchen off on the other side, wooden table in the middle set for four people, a purple patchwork cloth covering it in a diamond-like shape. Some handmade decorations hung from the ceilings and walls, sat on random surfaces. It was… a nice place, Janus had to admit. 

Roman wasn’t long before he returned, a bowl of soup in one hand and a few slices of bread in the other. Janus tried again to sit up in the bed, cringing as the movement made his wounds spike in pain, but managed to get it this time, leaning up against the wall. “Thank you,” he said, taking the soup from Roman and beginning to eat. 

He finished in a matter of seconds. He didn’t even use the spoon provided, just tipping it straight into his mouth like his life depended on it. Maybe it did. Roman just stared at him, in shock. 

“Holy fuck, dude, I’ve never seen anyone eat soup so fast before-“ 

Janus looked away, anywhere but Roman. “Sorry. Just… hungry, I guess.” 

Roman narrowed his eyes. “When was the last time you ate?” 

“I…” He frowned, trying to remember. He wasn’t sure how long exactly he’d been in that cell for, and even before that he hadn’t eaten  _ loads _ . He decided not to answer Roman, instead falling silent again. 

Thankfully, Roman dropped the subject, perhaps understanding it was a… sensitive topic. “So, uh, do you have a name?” he asked, instead. 

Janus glanced up, cautious. “What’s it to you?”

Roman blinked. “I just wanted to know the name of the man I saved from dying alone in the forest?” 

“Saved me?” Janus scoffed, rolling his eyes, immediately regretting that after as his head  _ pounded _ . “Yeah, ‘cause you  _ totally  _ didn’t kidnap me to torture me for information or whatever.” 

“Why… would I do that?” 

“Why wouldn’t you?” 

Roman didn’t respond, instead just staring at Janus with his mouth wide open, and Janus couldn’t help but feel like he said something wrong. He always said  _ something  _ wrong, why would then be any different? That was probably going to make the eventual punishment worse, great. 

Roman didn’t have time to respond, anyway, as… someone else came into the building. Another mage, purple swirls around his eyes, wearing a long black cloak, staring right at Janus like he’d just seen a ghost. 

~*~ 

Unlike his good friend Roman, Virgil hadn’t always been part of the rebellion. No, he’d been born in the Kingdom, to an… influential family, who got him into the court, a mage high up in rank. He’d never really believed in anything the Kingdom stood for, though, so it wasn’t a surprise to anyone when he eventually got kicked out, given what should have been the death penalty if he hadn’t run so fast. If he hadn’t been taken in by the rebellion, saved. 

But he hadn’t been expecting his past to catch up with him. Walking into his house to see an old friend was enough to make him panic. 

“Virgil?” a voice said besides him. “You wanna… step outside for a moment?” 

He didn’t get a chance to reply before someone grabbed his arm and dragged him back outside, into the cool evening air, moonlight illuminating the night sky. Virgil felt like his entire world was collapsing in on him, because- because that was  _ him _ . The only person he’d even remotely liked, the person he regretted leaving behind every moment of every day, right there  _ on his bed _ , hurt.  _ Here.  _

“You look pale,” Roman said, as Virgil lowered himself to the floor, leaning against the wall of his house and staring at the mud below him. “Paler than usual, I mean.” 

Virgil gulped. “That’s a mage from the kingdom,” he said, glancing up at Roman, “in my bed.” 

“...yeah, uh, about that…” 

“I’m not- I’m not mad,” Virgil promised, looking away again. “It’s just…” He wasn’t sure if he was ready to tell Roman much more about his past, and mentioning that he  _ knew  _ the mage, knew  _ Janus  _ would surely just bring up more questions, and Virgil would have to explain everything, and he  _ didn’t want to.  _ So, instead, he asked, “Why is he here?” 

“I found him bleeding out in the forest,” Roman quickly explained. “I just… couldn’t leave him out there. So brought him here to fix him up. Doesn’t seem to like me that much, though.” 

Virgil closed his eyes, breathing out through his nose. “Is he loyal to the Kingdom?” 

“I don’t know.” Roman sighed. “Probably not, if they left him out to die like that.” 

“Gods, it’s probably the  _ Kingdom  _ who did that to him.” He knew that Janus had never been  _ particularly  _ loyal to the Kingdom, although Virgil had always been far more outspoken than Janus, and Janus tended to prefer to keep on their good side, going along with mostly anything if it meant he would stay safe under their protection. Which meant… he’d have had to have really fucked up to get kicked out and  _ left for dead _ . 

“You think so?” Roman asked. Virgil glanced over at him, looking at him as though it was obvious. “He hasn’t said anything that makes it seem as though he resents the Kingdom…” 

“What  _ has _ he said?” 

“Just… Not a lot, actually,” Roman said. “He won’t tell me his name, and he thinks I’m going to torture him, or something.” 

Virgil snorted. To be fair, that did sound rather like Janus. “Yeah, he’s always been dramatic like that.” He realised his mistake almost immediately after he finished speaking, eyes widening. “I, uh, I mean-“ 

“Do you know him?” Roman interrupted, raising an eyebrow. 

Virgil seemed to shrink in on himself,  _ really  _ not wanting to have this conversation so soon, but… he sighed. Roman deserved to know, he supposed. “You know how I was a mage for the Kingdom?” 

Roman nodded, slowly. 

“J- The mage in there… worked very close with me,” he said, carefully, not wanting to give  _ too  _ much information. “You could say we were friends, I guess. But, obviously, I… left, and I haven’t seen him since.” 

Roman was silent for a moment, taking that in, before humming. “Would he trust you?” 

Virgil frowned. “What?” 

“Like… he very clearly doesn’t trust  _ me  _ right now, would he… talk to you?” 

Virgil shrugged. “Maybe?” he said, with a questioning tone. “I don’t know. It’s very possible that he hates my guts for leaving him alone. Or thinks I’m the scum of the Earth for standing up against the Kingdom. There are many, many things that could go wrong if I try to talk to him.” 

He thought back to the last few moments they spent together. Things had been started to go wrong for Virgil, as he had begun to realise just how bad the Kingdom was. Of course, he’d never really agreed with what the Kingdom was doing, always wanted things to be  _ better _ , for everyone, even those outside the Kingdom. He didn’t like how the Kingdom was using him for his magic, he never  _ asked  _ to be that way, never wanted to be locked in a tower most of the time and only allowed out when he was needed, treated like a weapon more than a human. He didn’t like the constant fear he felt, the fear that his entire life would be ripped apart at one word, that one second he would be fine and the next second he’d be torn to shreds, just because he’d stepped out of line. 

But Janus had never shared those same fears. He’d always been so insistent that they just go along with whatever the Kingdom wanted. Never really thought about anyone but himself, now that Virgil thought about it - Janus just wanted to survive, even at the cost of others happiness. He’d do  _ anything  _ it took to survive. 

So when Virgil came up to his tower in tears, shaking, knowing he’d finally fucked up for real, knowing he would be  _ dead  _ by morning if they didn’t do anything about it, he shouldn’t have been so surprised that Janus had just… turned a blind eye. Not even an attempt of comfort, not like he usually would. No cuddles near the fireplace, no quiet reassurances that everything would be okay, no sitting out in the rooftop as the sun set and the moon rose, talking about nothing long into the night until Virgil was finally calm, no snuggling underneath the covers as the two drifted off the sleep, no morning kisses that made Virgil’s heart flutter and reminded him that he had a  _ life _ , a reason to be on this Earth, somebody who cared about him. 

Janus hadn’t even tried. He’d said nothing as Virgil had been dragged away, just watched,  _ watched _ . Watched the supposed ‘love of his life’ vanish into nothingness. As far as he knew, Virgil was dead. 

...Janus thought he was dead. And now he’d seen him again, in the flesh,  _ alive _ . 

He had to talk to him. Even if Janus was still mad, still hated him, he… he needed Janus to know that he was still there. Just in case Janus  _ did  _ want him back. 

Virgil had missed him so, so much. 

He stood back up, taking in a deep breath to compose himself. “I’ll try to talk to him. Stay out here, okay?” 

Roman frowned, looking a little confused, but nodded. “Alright. Shout me if you need me.” 

“Will do.” 

Virgil walked back into the house, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, even as his insides attempted to rip him apart. He casually approached the side of the bed, looking down at Janus and holding back the tears that immediately sprung to his eyes upon  _ seeing  _ the old friend. He opened his mouth to speak, although no words came out, and before he could think of something, Janus beat him to it. 

“Virgil,” he said, his voice a complicated mix of emotions. Bitterness, anger, confusion… fondness. Relief. Concern? 

Love. 

“Janus,” Virgil said in response, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Janus made no attempt to get him to move, so he shifted closer, pulling his legs up. “I… Long time no see, huh?” 

Janus narrowed his eyes, almost looking suspicious of Virgil. “You’re part of the rebellion, then?” 

Virgil rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. “Yeah. I mean… that shouldn’t really be a surprise, you know I’ve always hated the Kingdom.” 

“I know,” Janus replied, calmly. Virgil could tell he wasn’t actually calm. “I’m more surprised that you’re alive.” 

Virgil snorted. “Yeah, well… I guess I kinda am, in the Kingdom’s eyes at least.” He bit his lip. “I’m guessing they did this to you as well, huh?” 

Janus stayed silent, looking away from Virgil. That told Virgil enough. 

“It’s okay,” Virgil said, calmly. “You’re here now. We can keep you safe.” 

Janus twisted his head back towards Virgil, cringing a little at the sudden movement. Christ, what had the Kingdom  _ done  _ to him? “Why?” 

Oh. Virgil hadn’t been expecting that. “Why wouldn’t we?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused. 

“Because…” There was a long,  _ long  _ pause as Janus thought, eyes drifting away from Virgil again, back up to the ceiling. “Because you should be angry with me.” Another pause, as Virgil tried to process his words. “I’m the enemy right now. You could be using me for information, or killing me right off the bat before I can betray you all. Not to mention the fact that  _ you  _ specifically should  _ hate  _ me, for- for letting you go like that. For not fighting.” 

Virgil shook his head, reaching out towards Janus’ hand. Upon the contact, Janus tensed, but made no move to get Virgil to stop. “You did what you had to do to save yourself, I know that, Janus. And the rebellion just wants to help, okay? They don’t… They don’t care about your past. They’ll help anyone.” 

“Like… you?” 

A small smile crept onto Virgil’s face as he recalled his first few weeks as part of the rebellion. How he’d shown up one day covered in bruises and scratches and cuts, slowly starving to death, scared out of his mind. How everyone has been so quick to help, fix up his wounds, give him a good meal, a place to rest, someone to talk to. Someone to help him. A promise that he wouldn’t have to go back there, that he was safe here. That the rebellion cared in a way the Kingdom never would. 

He remembered how Logan had sat and tended to his wounds, asked him a million questions as he worked, about how things worked in the Kingdom, although never pressuring Virgil to answer if he was uncomfortable. He remembered how after he was back on his feet, he used to help Patton around the kitchen, remembered the first time that Patton had made him laugh whilst the two cooked, the first time Virgil had laughed in  _ years _ , how Patton had basically adopted him on the spot. He remembered how Roman hadn’t given it a second thought before offering him a place to stay with him, protection, their first kiss shared in the dark, under the stars, walking around the camp hand in hand. Safe. 

“Yes, like me,” Virgil said. “They knew I had been with them, but that didn’t stop anyone from helping me when I clearly needed it. They’ll do the same for you. I’ll make sure of it.” 

Silence for a few moments, before Janus slowly shifted his hand, so that their fingers were intertwined. “I missed you.” 

Virgil seemed surprised at the sudden revelation, but still smiled. “I missed you too.” 

~*~ 

It had been a few days now since Janus arrived in the camp, and it had… definitely been a bit of a culture shock for him. Mostly, he’d stayed in the safety of Roman’s house, with Virgil by his side whenever he had free time, working some magic to help heal his wounds, catching each other up on the years they’d lost. Virgil had told him about his relationship with Roman, which at first had almost disappointed Janus at first, as he remembered the nights he used to spend with Virgil on the rooftops of the Palace, in the comforts of each other’s beds, until he’d learnt that the two were open to more partners. 

He’d also learnt that the rebellion itself was a whole lot different than what the Kingdom had led him, or  _ wanted  _ him to believe. It mostly consisted of regular citizens, people who had seen the evil nature of the Kingdom and escaped, people who wanted a better world. Most of them weren’t even fighters. There were a few, of course - Roman, for starters, along with a small group of his fellow ‘guards’ - plus some mages, such as Virgil and, now, himself. The rebellion had been quick to welcome him, quick to accept him for who he was, no matter his past.  _ That  _ had perhaps been the most surprising. 

One afternoon, Roman and Virgil had taken Janus out of the house for some fresh air. His wounds hadn’t completely healed, and he still had some difficulty walking, but… he wasn’t dying of blood loss, at least. Just a little bruised up. Which was to be expected, after everything he’d done. 

He tried to force himself not to take the blame for everything. Him being kicked out, sure, that was entirely on him - he knew better than to speak up against the King, he knew he was supposed to just nod and agree, stay down, stay low, don’t make an impression. He’d tried so hard to do that, but of course he’d failed. He had always been doomed to fail. But on top of that, he occasionally found himself blaming himself for  _ Virgil’s  _ banishment as well, even though that wasn’t his fault, that was… He didn’t want to blame Virgil either. It was the Kingdom’s fault, and the Kingdom’s fault alone. If only he’d just… 

No. No, he’d done all he could do. If he had defended Virgil, it would have only been worse. 

“I don’t blame for you what happened,” Virgil had told him, late one evening, laid in bed besides him (Janus hadn’t wanted to be left alone in the house knowing that Roman, however innocent and nice he seemed, could come in and  _ do something  _ at any second - although he had since learnt that Roman was worthy of his trust). 

Janus turned his head towards Virgil, looking at him with a strange expression. “You don’t?”

Virgil shook his head, but kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling above. “I had it coming, I knew that. You did what you had to do to stay safe. I mean… I probably would have done the same if I were in your position.” 

“No you wouldn’t have.” Janus looked away again. “You would have fought  _ so hard  _ to keep me around.” 

Virgil was silent for a moment, before sighing. “I… yeah, I guess. But still. I mean… I wouldn’t have wanted you to meet the same fate, anyway. I’m glad that you stayed safe there. Even- Even if you’re not safe there now.” 

“I’m back with you, at least.” 

Virgil smiled a little at that. “Yeah. Yeah, we’re together again.” 

“We… never should have been apart.” 

They weren’t apart anymore, at least. Now, the two sat side by side, feet dangling into a small pond, with Roman sat on a larger rock overheard. It was nice, feeling as  _ free  _ as Janus did then, with the wind on his face, water swirling around his legs, away from the people who had hurt him, who always hurt him. He almost wished that he’d just… gone with Virgil back when he’d left, pushed down his own fears and just  _ been for for him _ , then maybe this could have happened a whole lot sooner. Maybe everything would be okay. 

But he knew he hadn’t had a choice back then, and that was fine. He was fine now, at least. 

Virgil flicked his fingers up towards the water, purple sparks flying out his finger tips and beginning to dance across the surface, ripples expanding over the pond, water shooting up, purple lights floating over the top. Some water splashed Janus’ face, and he laughed. 

It had been a while since he had laughed. 

Janus sent in a few of his own yellow and green sparks, and smiled more at the display, watching the different colours, different magic mingling together. After a while, Virgil wrapped an arm around Janus, pulling him closer. Roman leapt down from his rock and joined Janus at his other side, his arm wrapped tight around his shoulder as well. 

It had been harder to trust Roman, Janus admitted that. It wasn’t until the third night that he stopped flinching whenever Roman came into the room, when Janus actually had a proper conversation with him. 

“I’m sorry if I scared you, bringing you here,” Roman had told him, voice genuine. Too genuine. It almost sounded fake, as though Roman was trying way to hard to convince Janus. But… deep down, Janus knew Roman was entirely truthful. 

Janus shook his head. “It’s alright,” he reassured him. “I overreacted, not your fault at all.” 

Roman frowned. “Well, I… Honestly, you’re reaction seemed perfectly reasonable, I-“ 

“-helped me the best you could,” Janus interrupted, finishing it for him, in the way that he  _ thought  _ Roman should actually reply. “You took in a complete stranger, knowing that there was a strong possibility I would attack you, especially as a mage, and… you healed me, took care of me. Literally nursed me back to help. I can’t…” He paused, frowning at the fact he’d just said all that. The fact he had  _ meant  _ it, even though he hadn’t particularly thought about it himself, mostly just thinking about how easy it would be for Roman to betray and hurt him, but… “Thank you, Roman. For everything.” 

Roman smiled a little, seemingly relaxing at Janus’ words. He didn’t say anything of much important after that, instead giving Janus rundown of his day, then talking about nothing. Janus felt comfortable around Roman for perhaps the first time. He was making progress. 

And now… everything seemed okay. As the three sat by the pond, Virgil leant over and kissed his cheek, to which Janus turned his head and kissed him on the lips instead. He had missed that. Then Roman, playfully jealous, took hold of Janus’ jaw and twisted his head around to kiss him too, a light blush forming across Janus’ cheeks. The three giggled, but calmed down a moment later, staring out across the pond, watching Janus’ and Virgil’s magic dance across the waves. 

Everything was fine. 


End file.
